carbon fiber

[gotseg]

Ive wanted to learn and understand how they use carbon fiber. I understood that its a fabric and that when applied with a resin has the ability to become 17 times stronger than steel.

So ive ordered a small 40$ kit to make your own carbon fiber project.

One of the first things that came to mind was a skid plate like waynes. Only made out of carbon fiber. Hard part would be getting an accurate mold of the bottom of the segway. Maybe once I get my own segway I can work on that idea. Id rather not risk someone elses seg.

Just thought Id post.


gotseg?

[opti6600]

Okay, here's the thing about materials. I'm not a materials engineer, although it'd be fun...but I can give you a layman-to-layman crash course on this.

Carbon fiber is -extremely- strong, but not necessarily -durable-. For a skid plate, you need something with a greater hardness than whatever it is you're hitting, a lot of these times concrete. As anybody with carbon fiber products will tell you - whether or not the part is supposed to be able to take the beating, it's expensive enough where you don't want to test it. Aluminum might be a better solution for this - light, simple, and durable. Otherwise check out Lexan - it's cheap enough to be discarded every so often, and if you use translucent stuff, you could always turn it into a lens for a light underneath the powerbase.

[Sleepy]

Are people riding their Segs so hard that they need skid plates?! Those battery housings can take quite a beating. By putting a skid plate on, you're insulating the batteries, and keeping their heat in.

My background is in designing and fabricating compostite materials. I've started on my molds for carbon fiber fenders. But I agree with opti... carbon probably isn't the best choice for a skid plate. Carbon's relatively brittle, and can crack more easily than some other materials. If you want to play around with composites for a skid plate, I'd recommend Kevlar or Spectra (polyethylene fiber), or even glass. They're much more impact resistant.

A simple way to mold the bottom of the Seg: wrap the base (the area you want to mold)with a thin piece of plastic-- either a plastic tarp, thin trash bag, or even plastic wrap (Saran Wrap). Get some Bond-O from your local car part store. Mix up a few batches, and spread it on the area you'd like to mold. Let it set up... and presto-- instant mold! I've simplified it a bit-- but it really isn't too difficult.

-Alex

[opti6600]

As I was writing this, I thought to myself "...yeah, but I'm sure there's a materials engineer out there among the community somewhere!"

Thanks for the tips, Alex!

[ElectraGlide]

Let the batteries dissipate the heat which is far more likely to cause damage than a rare encounter with debris. Stay away from damaging debris, use your eyes and steer around that stuff. If it can hurt the underside of your Seg whats it going to do to your tires and wheels ?

Steve